


Isolation and Ennui

by ListeningBoy



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Endings Are Hard, Enemies to Friends, Generic Disease, Hospitals, Quarantine, more like enemies to maybe starting to not hate each other tbh, quareedtine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:49:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23265727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ListeningBoy/pseuds/ListeningBoy
Summary: After an infected terrorist brings a deadly disease onto his plane, Gavin is forced into a hospital quarantine while tests are run to prevent it from spreading. Alone for weeks with only the occasional video chat for social interaction, he accepts a visitation request from his android work partner just so he can have some kind of mental stimulation.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Isolation and Ennui

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the #Quareedtine challenge from @ladytuono on Twitter

Gavin had been hospitalized after a return trip from vacation went wrong. A passenger had stood up at the front of the plane and announced that they were infected with a highly contagious and fatal disease - had they not felt the need to make themselves known for their deed, it might have spread to thousands before ever being discovered. It was being called biological warfare, though there had so far been no luck in tracking the origins.

The airport they landed at had already been evacuated by the time they arrived. The instigator was arrested immediately, though it was unlikely they would live to see a trial. Meanwhile, all humans that had come into close contact with them needed to be separated and put into quarantine while tests for the disease were made, to prevent any further spread.

As had become standard since android doctors and nurses were created, humans were forbidden from entering the quarantine as it was considered less effective than simply having the patiant be cared for by people who couldn't possibly be infected. For Gavin, who still refused to see them as anything more than machines, this meant he was effectively in total isolation.

And that suited him just fine. He had never been particularly social, in fact he could count the number of times he had left the house for anything other than work in the year before his much needed vacation on one hand. He could easily handle a few weeks of watching TV in a hospital bed all day. It would practically be an extension to his time off, and how could he turn that down?

That's what he had thought going into it, anyway. Now, two weeks later, he was beginning to really understand what was meant by the term stir-crazy. 

He'd barely talked to anyone the entire time, the androids caring for him had quickly picked up on his distain for them and stopped trying to pull him into conversation. He was able to video chat with Tina, but she was busy studying for her detective exam, and he'd insisted on her putting her full focus on that instead of entertaining him.

He half regretted it now. A week in he'd become so sick of the television that even looking at it made his head hurt, and he'd already played more stupid games on his phone than he had in his whole life. The lack of stimulation was somehow exhausting, and his sleep schedule was fucked beyond belief now. His body felt strange, off, and even the sunlight than came in from the sealed-shut window and the air itself was beginning to feel stale.

It was while in this state that a nurse informed him that he had a visitor request. It confused him at first, since no humans were supposed to be allowed near him until he was cleared, until they clarified that the visitor was an android - and then he was confused in an entirely different way. What android would possibly want to visit him? Surely not one that had ever actually met him.

If it was any other situation, he would have refused, but with who knew how long trapped in this room with little contact looming ahead, and the nurses already avoiding him and remaining curt and impersonal when he finally did try to engage them, he needed any social interaction he could get. He agreed to have the android informed they could see him.

He was surprised at who the visitor turned out to be, expecting a reporter or something to come in and ask questions about the incident on the plane. He'd gotten several requests for written interviews in the first few days he was here. Instead, when the door opened it revealed the last person in his life he would have ever expected to want to see him: his work partner, Nines.

While Gavin had never let go of his hatred of androids, with most of them it was restricted to small displays to show his feelings, like pointedly waiting for a human worker to be available at the store. Since they were supposedly people now he couldn't be as nasty towards them as he liked to be before the revolution, but he did his part to remind them that not everyone was on board with the new order of things they'd forced on Detroit.

Nines, though, he was practically fair game. Gavin hadn't been trying to bother him specifically when they were partnered - as his former human partners could attest, he was just _like that_. But unlike those former partners, his attitude didn't drive the android away. And over the months Gavin had slowly pushed further, testing and probing to find where the line was. As far as he could tell, though, there _was_ no line, Nines would put up with anything thrown at him. Which just made him the perfect victim for all manner of malicious pranks and unsavory comments. Perhaps the only person who had more reason to hate him was Connor, who he had actually fought, but with the way things had been going it wouldn't be long before he threw fists with his partner as well.

The android stared at him from the door, and he stared back. Nines looked like he was ready to turn around and walk right back out at the slightest provocation, and Gavin was nearly ready to give him that excuse. Nearly. But the rational part of his brain was yelling at him, reminding him that he could be stuck here for weeks, and squandering his only chance at conversation was not the brightest idea.

"Hey, tin- Uh, Nines," he corrected himself before he could make an ass of himself by insulting the android not two minutes after he showed up. His voice came out scratchy, rough after barely speaking for days, and he coughed to clear his throat. "What're you doing here? No offense, just wasn't really expecting visitors."

"None taken," Nines replied, continuing while stepping inside and closing the door behind him. "To be honest, I had not expected to be visiting. It was Connor's suggestion. He felt that you would appreciate some company, and thought that as your partner I should be the one to provide it."

Connor, huh? Maybe the guy didn't hate Gavin as much as he thought. Or maybe he just worried over everyone like the puppy he was. Yeah, it was probably that.

"Well I don't, like, need you to hang around or anything," Gavin made sure to point out, "but I guess I've got nothing better to do, so whatever."

"Noted," Nines said, nodding. And said nothing else. He just stood there, still staring - had he even blinked since he arrived?

"So, uh..." Gavin began lamely, trying to think of something they could do or talk about. What were androids even into? "Do you... wanna play cards or something? I've got a pack in the desk over there. Getting bored of Solitaire."

Rather than answer, Nines walked over to the small desk to search for the cards. Taking that as his cue, Gavin got out of bed and started pulling the chairs out of the corner for them to sit. In that moment he was grateful this hospital had replaced the old gowns that left your ass bare to the wind with an easy-open robe, he wasn't keen on showing off to the guy he had to work with every day. 

Once they had the desk between them Nines took up the cards, quickly shuffling them as he spoke. "What would you like to play? I know the rules to dozens of card games; poker, blackjack, gin rummy-"

"Slow down, dude," Gavin interrupted, "those sound fun, but I'm not sure I have the skill to beat an android at games like that. How about good ol' go fish?"

"Smart, Reed," Nines chuckled. "Alright, go fish it is."

-

"Oh, come on!"

Gavin slapped his last card on the table, seething as Nines collected it and added it to his large pile. "That's like, twelve games in a row-"

"Thirteen, actually."

"-how do you keep winning? I even shuffled the cards for most of them so you couldn't do any fancy tricks!"

"Perhaps this just isn't your game, detective. Are there any games requiring less skill than go fish that we could try?" 

Nines was smirking at him, obviously pleased with himself at having been clever enough to best Gavin at the game he'd suggested himself. It was infuriating, being faced with defeat over and over. It made him want to get up and punch Nines right in his stupid plastic face and force him to explain whatever bullshit he had pulled to get his winning streak.

It was the most alive he'd felt in days.

He wasn't going to tell Nines that, though.

"Alright, fuck this. No point in playing if I can't even brag about beating you." Gavin got up and returned to his bed, grabbing his phone from the bedside table to check if anyone had messaged him in the meantime. The cards, table, and chairs were left where they were. The nurses would put everything back for him if he didn't do it himself. After a moment, though, Nines stood and began cleaning up their mess. Well. Whatever, didn't matter which plastic did the work.

A thought had occurred to him while playing, and now that he didn't have to focus on winning Gavin decided he might as well voice it. "Y'know, it's kinda weird that you came down here to see me. I know Connor said you should, but you don't exactly have a good track record for doing what he tells you to." That Connor wasn't worth listening to was the one thing they could agree on most days.

Nines paused in his work with his back to Gavin. "I suppose I don't."

When he didn't say anything further Gavin prompted, "So... Why?"

The android didn't respond for a second. Just when Gavin was about to give up on getting him to talk, he started moving again, roughly shoving the desk back into place before jerking the drawer open to put the cards away, slamming it shut again after. Gavin winced - angry cleaning had been his mother's thing, and the ingrained instinct to hide in his bedroom in shame was suddenly hitting hard.

"I don't _like_ you, Reed," Nines said as he slowly turned around.

"Can't imagine why," Gavin quipped sarcastically before he could stop himself. Normally he wouldn't care, but he had a feeling no one within hearing distance was going to come to his aid if Nines decided this was the day he went to jail for murder.

Luckily, Nines only glared at him. "I tried to like you. I tried very hard. Because partners are supposed to get along, or at least tolerate each other. And I tolerated a lot." Gavin could concede that, he'd definitely not held back in his attempts to piss Nines off. "When I heard that you were in quarantine I- well, I didn't think I'd be happy, but at least I'd have more time to recover from constantly being in your presence."

"I'd say I'm offended, but honestly, that's fair," Gavin nodded.

"Quite." Nines huffed, leaning back on the desk and crossing his arms in front of his chest. Maybe it was supposed to look angry, but to Gavin it looked like the android was honest-to-god _pouting_. "And yet - despite everything I've had to put up with in the past few months - I couldn't relax while you were in here. Connor _did_ suggest visiting, but I was thinking about it before he said anything."

"You... were worried about me?" Gavin slowly realised. "Damn. Did your servos break while I was on vacation or something?"

LED red, Nines snapped, "Of course I'm worried about you, Gavin! You could die! You might be annoying and spiteful and idiotic-"

"Okay, I get it, I suck," Gavin grumbled, "Didn't need you here to know that."

"-but," Nines emphasized, "you were still - are still - my partner. And despite all the warning signs not to, I can't help but find myself caring for you. Enough that I couldn't just sit around waiting to find out if you were sick - waiting for your _death_."

Gavin was silent at that. There were very few people in the world who he believed wouldn't at least feel neutral if he were to die, if not glad. And somehow he had unknowingly tricked this hunk of plastic into being one of those few. Which was unfair, because now he had to think about whether he felt the same back. And until just two minutes ago, he would have said that he didn't - that he would celebrate when Nines was finally made into scrap metal. But suddenly he wasn't too sure.

"I'll stay away from now on, if you don't want to see me again," Nines offered at length, once he calmed down from his outburst. "I am aware you do not like shows of emotion from androids." When all he got in response was a vacant stare he sighed, straightening up and making for the door.

God, Gavin couldn't just let him leave after that without saying anything. "Hey, wait." 

Nines stopped, looking back at him as he got out of bed to approach the android. He stood a couple feet away, glaring at the floor to avoid looking at Nines as he spoke. "Listen, you don't gotta go. I don't like you all that much either, but honestly, you're a better partner than any of the humans I've been paired up with. Don't suppose any of them would've visited me if they could." He forced himself to look Nines in the eye as he finished, "So, you can stay. Y'know, if you care so much about it. Hanging out with you hasn't been so horrible."

After a tense moment of deliberation on Nines' part, the android slowly turned. "Alright," he agreed, "I'll come back. I do need to leave now, though, as I suspect visiting hours are over." He nodded towards the window, where the sky had darkened considerably since he'd arrived, unnoticed by Gavin.

"Yeah, sure," Gavin nodded, "go home and plug yourself in or whatever. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess?"

"Tomorrow," Nines confirmed.

Before he could walk out the door, Gavin quickly added, "Hey, could you maybe bring something with you next time? Gets boring in here after a while. Don't think I have a chance against you in any more games, but maybe like, a book or something? A real one, I can't do ebooks or whatever."

Something seemed off in the smile Nines gave, like he was smiling at something funny rather than just out of politeness. "Of course. I will find something you'll enjoy."

Gavin watched him walk out, staring at the door as it closed shut behind him. Slowly he returned to the bed, giving up on letting Tina study without him. Clearly he was in need of some real, _human_ interaction if he was actually thinking about playing nice with an android.

-

Gavin would deny for quite a time that over the next few weeks he and Nines became anything resembling friends. He couldn't be friends with an android, it just wasn't what he was like. What he couldn't deny, though, was that three weeks later when he was released from the hospital with a clean bill of health, he carried with him the books that had accumulated on his bedside table - _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_ and _I_ _, Robot_ , because Nines apparently had a sense of humour.

(That he had read them voraciously over the days meant nothing.)

And there was more than just Tina waiting in the lobby to bring him home and celebrate.

**Author's Note:**

> I appreciate all comments and try to reply whenever I can <3
> 
> * * *
> 
> As usual,  
> my [Tumblr](http://gavinisqueertbh.tumblr.com) and [PillowFort](https://www.pillowfort.io/ListeningBoy)


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